Tag Archives: armored vehicles

Bradford Geyer has seen an enforcement agency storm forming around government grants and government procurement and he argues that contractors and grantees would be well served to keep an eye on OIG audit reports that often telegraph enforcement activity. He provides a quick primer regarding a Department of State Office of Inspector General Audit Report regarding Armored Vehicles below:

For reasons I hope to explain more fully in a future column, there could be a perfect storm forming for reinvigorated grant fraud and procurement fraud enforcement (GFPFE) in a Trump Adminisitration. Assuming that is the case, and we wont know for sure for at least another six months, it becomes very important to keep an eye on OIG audits like this one (DOS-OIG Armored Car Audit Report) because audit reports can signal the deployment of investigative resources. Audits can also become a platform for an expanded enforcement initiative or provide a low cost basis for new investigative activity even by other agencies. Armored vehicles is a product market where the government has found procurement problems for close to 15 years and government enforcement agencies have had success at bringing cases in these areas. This is a toxic mix for contractors who should consider doing internal investigations and brushing up on their compliance programs. If they find a problem they should carefully consider a voluntary disclsoure to the appropriate agency(ies).

Our attorneys have led and participated in some of the highest profile matters in the past decade, both while in the government and in private practice. We have been involved in the most significant criminal cartel cases, the most important mergers, the most notable civil antitrust investigations, the largest procurement fraud cases, and game-changing antitrust cases that reached the United States Supreme Court. Our collective experience stands as a testament to our work ethic, our drive for excellence, and the trust and responsibility we have been given by our clients and the government.

International Cartels:

Led investigation and prosecution of marine contractors engaged in conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition to install deep sea oil platforms

Led investigation and prosecution of international freight forwarders engaged in conspiracy to fix prices on international air cargo shipments

Led investigation and prosecution of household-goods moving contractors engaged in conspiracy to fix prices for international moving services provided to Department of Defense

Investigation and prosecution of graphite electrodes manufacturers

Investigation and prosecution of ocean shipping companies

Investigation and prosecution of a FTSE 250 engineering company that resulted in the indictment, extradition and conviction of its former chief executive

Defended foreign construction company in investigation and prosecution of alleged billion-dollar bid rigging scheme, in related qui tam litigation, and in other related matters

Defended foreign vitamin manufacturers in investigations and prosecutions of alleged international price-fixing agreements

Defended electrical products manufacturer in first felony prosecution under the Sherman Act and in civil treble damage litigation

Represented a class of nurses in litigation against a hospital association and a number of Arizona hospitals

Represented the State of Ohio against a number of dairies for allegedly rigging bids of school milk

Investigation and prosecution of highway paving contractors in multiple districts for bid rigging

Investigation and prosecution of military insignia providers supplying the Army Air Force Exchange System with over 4,000 items of insignia

Represented metal drum manufacturer in prosecution for price fixing

Investigation of polypropylene bag manufacturers and that resulted in the prosecution of a manufacturer for Buy American Act violations and conspiracy to defraud

Investigation and prosecution of nearly 40 cases against paving contractors for conspiring to rig bids in connection with federal and state highway and airport contracts

Investigation and prosecution of an auction rigging conspiracy involving auto parts to by the Department of Defense at Defense Reutilization Marketing Offices (DRMO)

Investigation and prosecution of multiple electrical construction contractors for conspiring to rig bids for major power wiring contracts associated with steel mills and waste water treatment plants

Investigation and prosecution of multiple wholesale grocery companies and bid managers for rigging bids to school districts, hospitals and jails in southern Texas

Investigation and prosecution of multiple dairies for rigging bids for school milk sold to districts in Louisiana

Investigation and prosecution of crawfish processors for fixing prices paid to crawfish farmers and fishermen

Investigation and prosecution of bribery conspiracy involving the reconstruction of the New Orleans levee system after Hurricane Katrina

Investigation and prosecution of fire protective services company and its president

Investigation and prosecution of an Iraq-based general construction bid rigging scheme

Investigation and prosecution of conspiracy to solicit kickback scheme involving security services on a US Agency for International Development contract

Investigation and prosecution of fuel theft from an overseas United States military facility

Investigation and prosecution of a Europe-based scheme to defraud the Iraqi government by facilitating the fraudulent claim for payment of armored vehicles that were never delivered

Represented individual accused of defrauding government defense agency out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of grant money

Represented company accused of defrauding government by failing to supply vitamin-enriched food products with the proper level of enrichment

Represented large computer software company in internal investigation of improper influence on government contracting process

General Criminal:

Defended CEO and three closely-held companies in a multi-state racketeering and tax fraud prosecution

Investigation and prosecution of multiple labor racketeering cases ranging from prosecutions of United Mine Worker Union officials for theft of union funds used to pay for the murder of a political opponent of the union president to the prosecution of two Boston-based racketeers for actions associated with their travel to California in connection with a union organizing effort at a San Rafael newspaper

Investigation and prosecution of the mayor of a New Jersey town for taking bribes in connection with the permitting of a tank farm at the terminus point of a major Gulf Coast to East Coast pipeline

Investigation and prosecution of the most prolific serial bank robber in United States history

Investigation and prosecution of the murder for hire of a government witness and one of the largest cocaine importation conspiracies East of the Mississippi River

Represented large telecommunications provider as plaintiff in case alleging monopolization of market for telecom switch software.

Represented leading music copyright licensing organization in a decade-long investigation by the Department of Justice

Led the investigation of Ticketmaster at the Department of Justice

Led major, successful prosecution by United States Department of Justice of conspiracy among twenty-four leading market-makers in NASDAQ stocks, including Goldman, Sachs & Co. and J. P. Morgan Securities, Inc. who had conspired to maintain spreads between buying and selling prices of NASDAQ stocks

Led successful investigation and prosecution of Salomon Bros Inc. and two hedge funds, Caxton Corporation and Steinhardt Partners, LP, to limit the supply of two-year Treasury notes to the “repo,” or “repurchase agreement,” market

Successfully brought the Reagan Administrations ‘s first challenge to a merger (brewing industry)

Successfully represented the United States in a litigated matter challenging field of use restrictions in patent licensing agreement in specialty chemicals

Successfully represented the United States in challenge to professional rules of conduct limiting competition among accountants in Texas

Successfully represented the United States in challenge to acquisition by Texaco, Inc. of an independent oil refining company

Represented high-tech electronic service provider with respect to antitrust issues in a bet-the-company patent infringement case

Represented sporting goods manufacturer in vacating a consent decree

Represented leading music copyright pool in civil antitrust investigation leading to vacating of an earlier consent decree and modification of another consent decree